10 「Momon & Nabe」 (1/2)
”And that's when Cipher grabbed his head and smashed it into the ground!” Peter exclaimed with his hands in the air. ”He was knocked clean out and we brought him to the authorities.”
It had been a few days since the Adventurers had returned to the Fortress City of E-Rantel. Since then Cipher had quickly caught up to Peter and his lively crew in rank. They even bonded overtime, getting used to each others personalities. It took a lot of trial and error, short bouts of anger and plenty of mead.
”NO WAY!” One of the children listening to Peter's tale of their exploits shouted in disbelief, outside the Adventurer's Guild building.
The Swords of Darkness all chuckled at their leader who was dumbfounded by this kid trying to deny the story. Why on earth would the kid not just sit back and enjoy the tale?
”Tell us another! Tell us another!” The others listening in were chanting, wanting stories.
The group was being paid by a small group of parents for the adventurers to tell them their 'war' stories.
There was a lot of boasting about each one of their skills. How the Ranger Lukrut could detect enemies at long distance. Ninya had the affinity for magical aptitude and learned nine spells in three days. And then there was Dyne's impeccable advise which was always helpful in many ways.
Then there was Cipher, one of the fastest ranking members of the Guild and how he could rank even faster. He was one of the few who could use fifth tier magic and even some above.
While many questioned his humanity because of this, it quickly gathered unique individuals to take a gander at the man. One notable was a spy for the Slane Theocracy who attempted to gain more information by claiming they were part of a public forum.
It was an interesting conversation.
”Wow... So the Commander of the Special Operations Unit was captured by this Ainz Ooal Gown?” Cipher asked curiously as he looked over the man.
The spy nodded and grinned at the man. ”And it's true you can create magic items out of thin air?”
”Not only that my friend. I can also create an entire fortress with a single spell.” Cipher was grinning along with this man. He already knew who and what this person was. He was chatting up a spy and he was gaining information, as it was his currency of course.
If anything he could be come an information broker in this world, but that meant a lot of talking and gathering. He'd need to employ much more than just himself in this undertaking.
Thankfully he had his people back at the citadel watching over the continent using surveying and surveillance magic, even remote viewing.
That's when suddenly he saw Brita. She had sweat on her brow and she was rushing over in his direction. Raising a brow, he looked over her form before narrowing his sights at the red bottle in her hand. A lesser healing potion?
The moment she was in front of him, she was bent forward with her hands on her knees, catching her breath. Panting heavily, she looked up at him trying to speak.
「Revitalize」He cast the recovery spell on her, allowing her to easily breath now and stand straight up.
Sighing with relief, ”Thank you.” She said before clearing her throat and looking up at Cipher. ”So there was this guy and he gave me this!” She raised the potion up, showing it to him.
”And?”
”He had broken the one you gave to me and gave this one to me in compensation. I asked if he knew you, and he said yes!” She was already out of breath as she was using a lot of air and trying to remain calm at the same time while being overwhelmed.
”Oh... I see,” he pursed his lips. The only person who could have possibly known him and have the same item as him would be Momonga, or a player who hadn't identified themselves. ”What was his name?”
”Momon, he said his name is Momon. He's a copper ranked adventurer.”
Nodding slightly to this, he chuckled and wore a happy smile. ”So he's finally come to E-Rantel.”
Ninya and the others were all looking over at them. They didn't understand what was going on until they noticed the healing potion in Brita's hand.
”Did you give her that?” Peter walked over and asked, raising a brow seeing the familiarity between the two people.
”Apparently an adventurer broke the one I gave her actually, and they compensated her by giving her this item in return. It appears to be an exact replica.” He informed his party members before smiling slightly. ”Hey Brita, Did he say where he was goie--” He paused as he watched a man in full plate armor walk up behind Brita along with a pretty black haired beauty.
”Cipher, pleasure to see you again.” Momon spoke with his impressive tone of voice.
Cipher nodded his head back towards Momon, ”Likewise Momon,” his eyes moved to Nabe. ”Ah... Nishikienrai's daughter. Pleasure to meet you once again.”
Her eyes flickered from Momon, then back to Cipher himself. ”My name is Nabe. You honor the supre-” She was suddenly elbowed by Momon, ”my father.”
”No Kidding...” Cipher said with a blatant and dry tone before looking over to Momon. ”We're going to be heading out on a job soon. Would you like to join us?”
”What is the job about exactly?” Momon asked as he crossed his arms in front of him, taking an almost arrogantly heroic stance.
Brita who was now standing aside, was staring at the three of them. The name he had spoken of Nishikienrai was foreign to her ears and knowledge. From her appearance though, she looked to be from a country in the deep south where her face was more common. It was a possibility that this man was the person he traded off continent with. Could it be?
”A friend of yours?” Peter walked over with a cocky smile across his lips, standing beside Cipher and taking a closer look at the two.
Ninya and Dyne remained behind, but Lukrut practically fell for Nabe the moment he saw her.
”I am the leader of the Swords of Darkness, Peter Mauk.” He gestured towards himself then towards the Ranger of the group, ”This is the eyes and ears of our team, the ranger Lukrut Volve.”
”Hi~!” Lukrut gave a strangely admiring tone as he gave a wave directed towards Nabe.
”This guy deals with healing magic and manipulation of nature, the Druid Dyne Woodwonder.” Peter continued to introduce the group.
”Nice to meet you,” the long haired bearded man nodded his head in acknowledgement as Nabe bluntly ignored Lukrut's social advancements.
”And lastly this is our magic caster and brains of our team, Ninya the Spell Caster.” He gestured openly towards Ninya who stepped forward, flanking Cipher on the opposite side.
”Nice to meet you,” she'd humbly bow her head with her eyes closed, a sincere smile across her lips. ”But, Peter,” she looked over towards the leader of her team. ”Can you stop calling me such an embarrassing nickname?”
”Huh? Why?” Peter just seemed to smile at her as if teasing, but at the same time being sympathetic about her feelings and request.
”This guy is a talent holder,” Lukrut proclaimed as if it was a great way of breaking the ice and a way to brag about his team. An adventurer was only as good as their team members afterall.
”Oh? A talent holder.” Momon repeated the term, before glancing over towards Cipher who nodded to him, before he'd return his attention to Lukrut.
”He has the talent, Magic Affinity. It allow him to learn magic at an accelerated rate, halving the usual time to learn. Cipher had taught him nine spells in three days!” Peter appeared to be boasting now rather than showing how much pain she went through to get that far. It was all about appearances.
”Oh?” Momon turned his head towards Cipher again, raising his brow bone under his helmet. ”Sounds painful.” Momon was aware of his special ability to imprint magic and skills onto people's minds by sacrificing their levels and experience.
”I feel very lucky to be born with this talent,” Ninya proclaimed with a calm soft voice. Her smiling lips were plain to see. ”It allowed me to take the first step towards realizing my dream.” Even though she was smiling the way she held her brows, her expression was hiding depression.
”Either way, he's a famous talent holder in this city.” Peter interjected, it seemed he was going out of his way to promote her esteem.
”Well there is someone even more famous than me here.”